Steven Fry’s outburst on broadband in NZ, however confused, did at least succeed in putting the state of our broadband access back in the headlines for a bit. It’s an issue that the Nats would rather we forgot. Remember these empty promises back before the 2008 election?

National’s latest billboard highlights the party’s commitment to rolling out an ultra-fast broadband network, says National Party Leader John Key.

“A National Government will invest up to $1.5 billion to drive the roll-out of a ‘fibre to the home’ ultra-fast broadband network. … “National’s medium to long-term vision is for a fibre connection to almost every home, supported by satellite and mobile solutions where it makes sense.

“Our initial aim is to ensure the accelerated roll-out of fibre right to the home of 75% of New Zealanders. In the first six years, priority will be given to business premises, schools, health facilities, and the first tranche of homes.

A study commissioned by the Treasury has warned it would cost between $5.3 billion and $10.4b to connect three-quarters of New Zealand homes with fibre-optic cable using the Government’s preferred active Ethernet technology.

Former Telecom chief technology officer Murray Milner, who carried out the study, says the $1.5 billion the Government has allocated to its ultrafast broadband plan would not be sufficient to connect that number of homes. That is even if matching investment from the private sector was forthcoming and cheaper, “passive” fibre technology was used.

And so the back-peddling began. Now in the aftermath of the Fry-inspired focus on the issue, the Nats are trying to put a brave face on it:

British actor Stephen Fry’s criticism of New Zealand’s broadband does not appear to have the Government too abashed, with Communications and Information Technology Minister Amy Adams today boasting about the “excellent progress” made in the last three years. …

Ms Adams said contracts had been locked in, the rollout was under way, and competitive wholesale prices had been secured, but it was up to the industry to ensure New Zealanders got the quality and performance they expected at prices they could afford.

“Government can help but it is industry that ultimately carries responsibility for delivery of faster broadband in the marketplace in an attractive way.” …

Prime Minister John Key yesterday defended the network. … The Government has set aside $1.5 billion for ultra-fast broadband, and aims to have the service reaching 75 per cent of New Zealand in the next 10 years.

Notice how we’ve gone from 2008 promises of the government providing broadband nirvana within six years to the 2012 reality of it’s up to “industry” within ten years. Notice how we’ve gone from “right to the home of 75% of New Zealanders” to “75 per cent of New Zealand” (whatever that means). And if you want the real detail on how vacuous those National election promises were, go read Chris Barton’s “Telecom’s new monopoly” – “We now know that it’s a promise that’s not only broken, it’s shattered”.

Yeah, it’s funny how the ‘news’ broadcasters come out with all sorts of crap along the lines of ‘well, he went over the cap, so his speeds were throttled back…so, actually, relative to other countries, our internet is the best in the world…’

Well, that’s more about the problems of disparate copyright laws that slow down expansion of internet-based media services from the USA. It would be a good reason to have an international copyright treaty that would allow people to internationalise licences to some degree- IF the one we were getting wasn’t as terrible as ACTA.

We must trust them though. They promised multiple times that they would have the books balanced by 2014,…… unless something Michael Cullen did way back gives an excuse to flunk it.
Trust them? You sure can.

Stephen Frye had come up against something so illogical, that he’d not considered that there would be a “data cap”, as that is an archaic and obsolete method [one that Telecom still uses]. So, he can be forgiven for not knowing this fine point in the contractual agreement.
NZ broadband, even with a lifted cap, does everything that Mr Frye says; drops out with out warning, slows to a crawl, and is very expensive.
Even after the fibre optic roll out, it is estimated that NZ will be be 5 years behind technical development. NZ already pays more “than most” for an arguably below average system.
I found it amusing that Telecom’s solution to the problem was “pay more money”. That is something that all New Zealanders have heard and unfortunately have no recourse against.

outsider just another broken promise from National.Korea has had high speed broadband for nearly 10 years .national has taken nearly 4 years to let a couple of small tenders.National are merely delaying to save money and also reinstating monopolies that took nearly 20 year to devolve.So in the end National are doing what they do best making wild promises they can.t deliver business as usual protect free market monopolies and cartels!

Actually data caps, and slowdowns or extra charges for exceeding them, are an entirely reasonable way to differentiate fees for people at home using the internet with data-intensive activities all day and people who have other things to do. (or just read text rather than downloading/streaming music or movies, or playing games online) The problem is that we pay too much for too little data at speeds that aren’t really that great, and that at most ISPs they still meter bandwidth during low-traffic hours. If we paid less for what we got now, and the low-traffic hours for each ISP were unmetered, then I’d be quite happy with data caps.

While I agree with Stephen Fry that NZ broadband is of a poor standard, I think we have far more serious issues to deal with before we get around to dealing with that one, like child poverty for example. It’s a pity that Stephen Fry doesn’t use his celebrity to complain about that instead.

Not guaranteed but highly likely, if the network remained publicly owned with operators such as Telecom allowed to use/invest instead then up against global players on a level field.

Using price/performance/technology rather than gattung’s infamous ‘confusion’ and monopoly tactics we’d have better/cheaper services rather than $10-15m p.a. CEO’s and a fat layer of overpaid management figuring out how to keep their priviledged position protected.

So similar to the electricity industry perhaps where the SOE heads earn million plus salaries and prices have escalated significantly and we have had major power failures due to failure to monitor and maintain key infrastructure, or poor oversight of operations?

What you’re actually describing is the result of the power companies becoming state corporations that had to make a profit and pay dividends rather than being a service which had to re-invest into the network.

Outsider the only power failure of any significance was when the free market couldn’t deliver. The late 90s Auckland was without power for 3 months due to mad max bradford and National.
Pete Hodgeson saved the free market by building a jet turbine Generator to meet the short fall because of drought . Not run down infrastructure that national neglected.
Outsider get you BS right or it come back to hit you in the face.
National is a do nothing except Spin BS so its understandable!

Mike you must have missed the ‘rusty shackle’ failure at Otahuhu substation in 2006 and the Newmarket transfprmer maintenance outage overload failure in 2008 both of which were described at the time as major and I believe even appeared in the newspapers.

the 98 failure was entirely due to lack of monitoiring and maintenance by a council controlled entity over many years. I suggest you read the commission of enqiry report

Isn’t that what the govt (agree with it or not) is sort of doing here with UFB? Or are you saying the networks in RSK are run on a not for profit basis – which is what Draco is effectively calling for. That doesn’t sound like the corporatist Korea I’ve heard of.

You can’t seriously be saying the post office was an example of a high level of service. How well do other non corporate govt entities do on service?

Inicdentally, I’ve heard from Telecom engineers that the approach taken pre corporatisation to dispersed NEC-based exchanges on rather than centralised switches has really hamstrung the development of IP and smart network systems in NZ (why was a bit beyond my technical payscale – I think it was to do with the complexity of progamming hundreds of exchanges rather than a single switch, and that made them vulnerable to new entrants like Telstra and Vf who could build new). So govt entities like private are not all seeing and not guaranteed to succeed.

You can’t seriously be saying the post office was an example of a high level of service.

It actually was! I am amused that you repeat the ACT belief that it wasn’t. I remember old Mad Dog Prebs saying years ago, that pre-sale, it took 6 weeks to get a phone, and the only colour available was black. How he expected to be believed in 1991, saying that, when people would have remembered (and did) remember, that what he claimed was not the case, amuses me greatly.

Exaggerated? Are you an ACToid? He lied! Ours in Rotorua, was cream, and in Wellington, puke green (both before the sale of Telecom to the septics.) As for the ‘6 week’ lie, I had had a phone connected in 1984, three years before the sale, in 24 hours. The most impressive part of the above, is that we had nice modern (for the time) phones in Rotorua in the 1960s, despite the poisons that corrupted equipment – I can’t imagine the filth doing that! (“Hey, Abner, t’ain’t no profit in that there hick town”)

But what’s the bets the post office never measured customer sat, response times etc.

Why should they have? Back then (at the time we’re talking about) the Post orifice was about service, not profit. The only people who bleat and moan about the service are 20-something business school students who are repeating what they heard Daddy quoting Prebs and Ruth Richardson say – because they weren’t alive at the time, and ACToids who have edited their own memories! 😀

We didn’t get them in NZ until well into the 80s whcih to me is a practical example of how far behind we were technologically.

Would have preferred it if they’d totally bankrupted the country instead?

To have touch tone phones required changing the old analogue exchanges with the new digital ones that were put in during the 1980s/90s (most were done in the 1980s BTW).

The time it took to get connected was determined by several things not least of which was:
1) The infrastructure that was already in place – it’s a little difficult to connect a phone when the nearest cable is 10km distant
2) When someone was available to do the work (despite the hyperbole going round we really weren’t sitting on our duffs smoking). Old analogue remember – phones had to be physically connected and disconnected. Whakamaru, which was 50km+ from the Telecom depot in Tokoroa got a scheduled run about once a month – making such a long run out just to connect one phone wouldn’t be particularly efficient – but in Tokoroa connections within a week were normal

Service to most customers was fine and people actually understood the physical limitations. This last has been forgotten/lost over the last three decades.

I think there’s something else that has been forgotten: the attitudes of Telecom staff when it was a govt service. They took a while to shake.

I worked there as a contractor in 1991 and could not believe how they worked. The single most important thing was getting to the end of the day with your mandatory tea breaks fulfilled. Solving real technical problems: “are you crazy?” “Who’s side are you on?”… etc. I was often forcefully dragged away from my keyboard to Krispies and milky tea – even when deep in troubleshooting a problem affecting customers – because working through tea break was not setting a good example.

[Yes, I understand there are two sides to that situation. Both dinosaurs.]

I was treated well by everyone only because I was seen as naive (and I was naive).

The attitude of ‘doing as little as possible’ seems to pervade telecommunications providers generally, especially the ex-govt-owned ones. That is part of the problem with broadband in NZ. Telco competition is trench warfare (from positions entrenched in concrete) rather than innovative. The instinct is to dig deeper.

Very few countries have shaken this completely, only the ones where the trenches have been exposed by ground penetrating munitions from non-telco competition, or there is some other motive to be the best. That has not yet happened yet in NZ.

I’m hopeful, but not confident, that the broadband initiative will help. Lowering the cost of access to customer is one thing, the other is the conglomerate that owns Southern Cross.

You are avoiding the fact that the de facto policy of the public sector in the 1970’s was to lower unemployment by making jobs for people. The public sector wasnt there to maximise profits it was there to provide a social good.

Of course if you want to go to a private sector model and maximise profits you would lay a lot of people off (reduce “waste” – since these workers are clearly “waste”) and let unemployment double triple and quadruple from the previous accepted maximums for unemployment of 1.5% to 2.0%

Oh yeah thats exactly what we let happen.

Looks like the most “efficient” economy is one which doesnt need many NZ workers. Guess how thats going to work out for us long term.

All bullshit? I’ve worked in and around telcos for 20 years and have forgotten more than I remember. My experience at Telecom’s Airedale St Exchange is not one that I will forget.

The desire to employ is not incompatible with providing service. I’m in a telco now that manages both very well. I liked my 100Mb/s Internet so much I joined this company.

I never said that the guys I worked with we’re waste, but rather that they were clearly not much interested in delivering or improving service. Privatization did not change that much, but it did add the profit twist.

Most telcos behave that way overall too. Collect money from subscribers while doing as little as possible. Gattung”s cynical confusion strategy a prime example.

More BS insider Telecon had years of high profit monopoly to improve its infra stucture but chose to send the money overseas to its share holders.Those exchanges with the NEC switching gear in them were the for front of technology at the time they were installed .
Telecon has been the big bully on the block now there facing real competition they are faltering.

The Post Office, not so much. Neither was Post Bank but Telecom was making huge surpluses before any of the mid to late 1980s reforms hit and all that surplus was being used in upgrading the network.

I’ve heard from Telecom engineers that the approach taken pre corporatisation to dispersed NEC-based exchanges on rather than centralised switches has really hamstrung the development of IP and smart network systems in NZ…

Telcos don’t innovate – they use the technology produced by the tech companies (Motorola, Lucent, IBM, etc) available at the time. Would have preferred that NZ stay as an analogue, human based switching network instead? It certainly would have increased job availability.

Also, that line of logic makes no sense in regards to the decentralised nature of modern networks which leads me to believe that the engineer you were speaking to was talking out his arse.

Well I’d suggest you are making generalised assumptions about networks in 2012 and he was talking about specific issues to do with the capacity of Telecom’s network to competitively roll out smart network in the mid 1990s compared to that of Telstra or Vf. Given it was his job to understand that kind of thing, I’d respectfully suggest there was slightly more chance of your arse being the one doing the talking.

As for telcos not innovating, you’ve obviously never heard of Bell Labs…

outsidere TelecoN was a private highly profitable Monopolistic company during the 90s .
Short term quick buck mentality 3 month balance sheet reporting to the share market encourages this behaviour of under investment by private companies. Ridiculus salaries and bonuses for CEO’s and board members also leads to this quick buck management Style, Chicargo cult economics!

No the bell labs that were started by AG Bell and part of AT&T for most of its life, now Alcatel Lucent. Five nobel prizes mostly in physics in the last 25 years seems a reasonable contribution to science.

So how come bell labs didn’t get the job of upgrading telecon prior to sale. NEC one the tender and besides that’s your argument would imply that telecom should have been innovative which is utter BS capacity to manufacture and develop such equipment doesn’t exist in NZ.Telecom had large enough profits to upgrade and modernise but didn’t.

Telecom! They are shite pure and simple (for instance, I have been trying to get to the bottom of nuisance calls for 10 days now – their csrs just tell me that for reasons of ‘confidentialityness’ (yes, she really didn’t know the word confidentiality), she’d lose her job if she told me who was harassing me!
If we ever get good broadband, a huge chunk of people will still not be able to afford it.

To counter that I have all my services with them adn I think they are very very good. I got a free $50 credit when switching mobiles even though I wasn’t precisely eligible. They doubled my bb cap and are offering a $5 reduction monthly just for saying I’ll stay 12 months with them. On the rare occassion there has been a network issue they’ve rereouted calls to my mobile for free. Everyone has a different story and none of them reflect the full story.

There is a specialist malicious call centre you can call if you have a problem. I suspect she is right over the confidentialityness…if not right ovr the grammar

Yes it would be wonderful to have the bb they have in other countries, but do you want all the other things that go with those countries that allow them to deliver that service? Population density is a huge issue for NZ in terms of cost. We get far fewer customers per km of cable, so same capital requirements if not more, but far fewer revenue opportunities.

You still have to go on a waiting list to get a phone on parts of the nth shore in akl and in rural areas.
Rural’s been handed back to telecom on a plate by Joyce so wonder how that brighter telco future will go for farming kids needing decent broadband for remote schooling or researching homework…….very nicely for telecoms bottom line thanks to jackboot Joyce.

There is a specialist malicious call centre you can call if you have a problem. I suspect she is right over the confidentialityness…if not right ovr the grammar

Ma dai, that’s who I was talking to! A female with that specialist call centre. I am sure she’s right as well, about the confidentiality – someone had let slip that the calls were coming from a business. So, what we have is, confidentiality for business, beneficiary customers get f****ed…

So if she was right, why are you blaming Telecom? have you considered that is an issue to do with the law (be it privacy law or telco law) and not Telecom’s fault? I think TC administer the service for the whole industry. If the calls were coming from a vodafone customer, wouldn;t it be their fault?

Its more important than building overpriced motorways given the price of oil is going up rapidly from now on.
east Asian school children are out performing us at education because they have invested heavily in a modern broadband .
While Key and co sit on their hands.

I had that problem of those sort of calls too with telecom,state your case,tell them
in no uncertain terms you are sick of it and you want to know where the calls are comming
from,they can do it,i done it,and because of it got my phone number changed free of charge
and also made it confidential,but that was a battle too,their teckies mucked it up a few times.

Insider central planning the electricity market was always ahead of demand under the govt.
Telephone systems were always kept up to date when it was government owned until Roger Douglas had his way deliberately making it dysfunctional + spending $2 billion on an upgrade just to sell it off as a guaranteed monopoly who’s shareholders shared windfall profits while telecoN put prices up by over 400% because there was no competition.TelecoN hardly spent a cent on infrastructure during that time,Only when faced with competition did it upgrade.Since its faced competition its profits and share price have dwindled into the doledrums .
Now national are handing out corporate welfare to the tune of $ 1.5 billion and putting telecon back in a monopolistic position so they can rorte us again!

NZ broadband is ok – when it’s working! – which is not very often. The pricing schemes, however, and the use of data caps, like Australia, firmly mire it in the exploitation zone! Mates in Japan, the USA and Europe laugh, when you mention data caps and pricing schemes!

I’ve lived in some and they aer all fine in their way. But they are different. They have as much laughable about them as we have here, despite the fine qualities of their internet services. Swings and roundabouts

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Last week the Productivity Commission put out a report about how to grow “weak labour productivity”. These views are being criticised as being straight out of the 1980s. What is a real problem is that we have a problem of ...

The Green Party has campaigned for several years for mandatory palm oil labeling to give consumers choice. Most consumers do not want to support a palm oil industry that is destroying tropical rainforests and contributing to dangerous climate change emissions. ...

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The lesson from the demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) should have been that it is time to re-think this type of so-called trade agreement. But despite warnings from internationally-recognised experts, there are more secretive “trade” negotiations happening this ...

This year I have been focused on getting a better deal for kids and families with learning needs such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism spectrum. We had a Select Committee inquiry into the issues faced, but the Government was too ...

The latest Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) provides further evidence that the economy that the National Government and Bill English have is sitting on shifting sands and leaves many people behind, Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson says today. ...

Earlier this week I posed some questions to Finance Minister Bill English about his support for the government’s plan to spend a billion dollars on a new prison. I was pretty disappointed in his answers, all of which flew in the face of his own ...

The Government is dragging its feet while working New Zealanders are still missing up to $2.3 billion collectively owed to them through underpaid holiday pay entitlements, Labour’s Economic Development spokesperson David Clark says. “The cover was blown on this issue ...

I took the opportunity to question the Reserve Bank Governor, Graeme Wheeler, about New Zealand’s lack of deposit protection in front of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee in Parliament yesterday. Why does the Reserve Bank continue to oppose protecting ...

“There has been a high degree of media interest in New Zealand about a possible post with the United Nations. “My name has been proposed to the United Nations Secretary General to be his Special Representative in South Sudan. ...

Mt Albert MP David Shearer is being proposed for a demanding and exciting role heading the United Nations peacekeeping force in South Sudan, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “David has kept me fully informed about this opportunity and we are ...

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NCEA results for charter schools have been massively overstated with documents revealing many students leaving school without basic NCEA level two qualifications despite this being a main educational target for the Government, says Labour Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins. “Documents obtained ...

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Child protection has taken a massive step backwards today with the Government passing a Bill that will give significant powers to unspecified ‘professionals’ or contract holders, says Labour’s Acting Children’s spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni. ...

Last week the Productivity Commission put out a report about how to grow “weak labour productivity”. These views are being criticised as being straight out of the 1980s. What is a real problem is that we have a problem of ...

The Green Party has campaigned for several years for mandatory palm oil labeling to give consumers choice. Most consumers do not want to support a palm oil industry that is destroying tropical rainforests and contributing to dangerous climate change emissions. ...

Cases of syphilis are increasing in Auckland. You read that right, syphilis! RNZ reported today that rates of syphilis have increased by 71 percent (between 2013-2015). We have known about the increase in syphilis figures for a while, but nothing ...

The charade of this Government’s sound economic management is unraveling. Misleading GDP figures, pumped up by property speculation and high immigration, have given the impression that all is well, masking our continued productivity decline compared to OECD countries. In fact, ...

Labour Party Leader Andrew Little has acknowledged John Key’s contribution to Government. “John Key has served New Zealand generously and with dedication. Although we may have had our policy differences over the years, I respect the Prime Minister’s decision to ...

The victory of Labour’s newest MP, Michael Wood, in Mt Roskill is the result of a well-organised campaign run with honesty and integrity, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “I congratulate Michael Wood on his great victory. He will be a ...

Apartment builder Ockham Residential has become the latest voice to call for the government to build affordable homes for Kiwi families to buy, says Labour’s housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. “Helen O'Sullivan of Ockham has now joined prominent businesspeople like EMA ...

The death of Fidel Castro is a huge historical moment for the older generation who grew up with the toppling of Batista, the Bay of Pigs debacle, the death of Che Guevara and the US blockade against Cuba. For younger ...

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has more than halved the number of fisheries observers in the East Coast North Island snapper trawl fishery (SNA1). This reduction in observer days, combined with major failures in an unproven and controversial video ...

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When approximately 60 per cent of children in state care are Māori processes need to change in favour of whānau, hapū and iwi solutions, said Labour’s Whānau Ora spokesperson Nanaia Mahuta. “Widespread concern about Government reforms of Child Youth and ...

The statistics for hip and knee electives under this Government make depressing reading, says Labour’s Health spokesperson Annette King. “Under the last Labour Government we achieved a 91 per cent growth in hip and knee elective surgery. Sadly under this ...

No amount of spin from Hekia Parata can hide the fact that per-child funding for early childhood education has been steadily decreasing under the National government, Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins says. “In the 2009/10 year early childhood services received ...

35% of New Zealanders now live in places where the average house costs over a million dollars, and it’s killing the Kiwi dream of owning your own place, says Labour’s housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. Latest QV stats show that Queenstown ...

The First Reading in Parliament today of his Our Work, Our Future Bill is a chance for political parties to ensure the government buys Kiwi-made more often and backs Kiwi jobs, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. The reading ...

Solid Energy is showing no moral spine and should not have any legal right to block re-entry into the Pike River drift, says Damien O’Connor MP for West Coast-Tasman. “Todays failed meeting with representatives from the state owned company is ...

A briefing to the Minister of Education reveals 20,000 at-risk students can’t be found, undermining claims by Hekia Parata that a new funding model would ensure additional funding reached students identified as at-risk, says Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins. ...

The Treasury has wasted $10 million in two years on the National Government's flawed state house sell off programme, including nearly $5.5 million on consultants, says Labour Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. "New Zealand needs more state housing than ever, with ...

Yesterday, the Minister for Trade misused economic data in order to try to make the case for more so-called ‘trade agreements’ like the TPPA which are actually deregulatory straitjackets in disguise. In welcoming a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade ...

Wages have plummeted for people with skilled migrant visas working in low-skilled occupations, driving down wages for workers in a number of industries, says Labour’s Immigration Spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway. “Documents acquired by Labour under the Official Information Act reveal that ...

The Government's failure to act on recommendations from Judge Henwood, based on years of work by the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service (CLAS) will further undermine any faith victims may have put into the process, says Labour’s Children’s Spokesperson Jacinda ...

National’s failure to deal with the housing crisis in New Zealand is once again being exposed by the Reserve Bank today, in a scathing assessment of the Government’s response, says Labour Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson “Governor Wheeler is clearly worried ...

On Friday, the Minister for Food Safety, along with her Australian colleagues finally looked at the issue of mandatory labelling of palm oil. We’ve been calling for mandatory labelling for years and we were hoping that the Ministers would agree ...

The ineffectiveness of the National Government’s approach to schooling has been highlighted by the latest Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) report released overnight, Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins says. ...

This week Parliament will select another members’ bill from the cookie tin (I kid you not, it really is a cookie tin) and I’ve just launched a new bill I’m hoping will get pulled – to help people get into ...

I want to end homelessness and ensure that everyone has a warm, safe, dry home. This National Government has let down New Zealanders, especially the thousands of New Zealanders who are struggling with something so basic and important as housing. ...

Kiwis affected by earthquakes might not get a fair deal if the Government pushes ahead with secret plans to let private insurers take over the assessment of claims, says Labour’s Canterbury spokesperson Megan Woods. “Under questioning from Labour the Government ...

The Prime Minister’s fixation with tax cuts, despite a failure to pay down any debt and growing pressure on public services is the real ‘load of nonsense’, says Labour Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. “We’re getting mixed messages from National. John ...

Last week we were very concerned to hear that an Auckland imam, Dr Anwar Sahib, had been preaching divisive and derogatory messages about Jewish people and women during his sermons. It was a disturbing incident coming at the end of ...

Tairāwhiti says yes to a clean environment for our mokopuna today and for generations to come. Tairāwhiti are have a responsibility to uphold their mana motuhake over their land and their peoples and are calling on the Government to honour ...

Today the Greens have unveiled a comprehensive set of initiatives around the politically fraught policy area of drug law and reform, showing Moral courage on the issue of Medical Cannabis that has been lacking in parliament. ...

Friday 9 December marks International Anti-Corruption Day. This was established after the passage of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in October 2003 and came into being because of the UN's concerns over the huge dangers corruption poses ...

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling out those who are pushing for the implementation of a sugary drink tax as a ‘post-truth virtue signalling’ citing evidence that many of the claims being made about sugar taxes are demonstrably wrong. ...

“The current Government’s priorities for next year’s Budget say nothing about improving public services, yet deteriorating public services hurt working people as much as a pay cut,” says CTU Economist, Bill Rosenberg. ...

Corrections releases COTA reports To be attributed to Chief Custodial Officer Neil Beales: The United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture establishes an international inspection system for places of detention. The Ombudsmen has responsibility ...

I have today apologised to Mr Derek Leask and Mr Nigel Fyfe for issues identified by the Ombudsman relating to the Investigation into the Possible Unauthorised Disclosure of Information Relating to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and ...

I need to be clear that while the Ombudsman identified issues with fairness and process in the investigation and release of the final report, these concerns relate to one section of a wider report. ...

The union representing more than 900 ambulance officers says its members are pleased that St John has announced to staff it will begin interpreting the meal break provision differently, but they’re renewing their calls for more staff to help relieve ...

State Housing Action Network 7 December 2016 Media release: Overseas investors not welcome to buy Christchurch state houses The news that Housing New Zealand is holding an “invite-only” seminar in Sydney next week for potential buyers of state houses ...

The importance of good risk assessment and monitoring of offenders carrying out community work has been highlighted in today’s sentencing of the Corrections Department under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. ...

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi supports the decision by the Māori Women’s Welfare League to take a Treaty of Waitangi claim calling for a halt to the reforms to Child Youth and Family and shares the ...

Former New Zealand High Commissioner in London Derek Leask welcomes the formal decision by the State Services Commission (SSC) to accept the Ombudsman’s findings and recommendations on the SSC’s flawed 2012-13 Inquiry into the leaking of MFAT papers. ...

The new Board for Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) has been elected. The Board supersedes the Rural Women New Zealand National Council under new Rules and Bylaws ratified by the RWNZ membership at National Conference in 2015. ...

The Autistic Collective wholly supports the recent decision of the government to ban the practise of seclusion in schools. We also agree with statements made by Altogether Autism and the Human Rights Commission on the practise. ...

The New Zealand Government's proposal to take away legal responsibility for water fluoridation from local councils and give it to the District Health Boards could prove to be an exercise in futility. ...

Chief District Court Judge Jan Marie Doogue has entered a conviction against the Ministry of Social Development on a charge of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employees. Judge Doogue declined an MSD application ...

The Public Service is working through the implications of the judgement and sentence in the prosecution of the Ministry of Social Development by WorkSafe New Zealand following the shootings in the Ashburton Work and Income Office in 2014. ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzBy Dr Alexandra Wake in Melbourne As a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Kirakira in the Solomon Islands early today, triggering a tsunami warning across the Pacific, many residents of the country would have ...

We are always comparing ourselves to other parents, but comparing yourself to animals probably isn’t always a good idea. Thom Adams explains why. Mother hens, tiger mums, pangolin dads… as parents, we do have a habit of comparing ourselves with ...

Every Friday, ‘The Album Cycle’ reviews a handful of new releases.ALBUM OF THE WEEKChildish Gambino – Awaken, My LoveGive it a first listen and you’d be forgiven for thinking Awaken, My Love! wasn’t a Childish Gambino record ...

Tara Ward does the unthinkable, and binge-watches 22 episodes of guinea pig dates on TVNZ Ondemand. It’s not often you enjoy a guinea pig’s quest for true love. Hardly ever, in fact. So when the televisual universe vomits up a ...

Henry Oliver tries to go deep with Los Angeles rapper Vince Staples, fails, and asks him about basketball and cartoons instead.Vince Staples is young, very skilled and very, very chill. He raps fast, but talks slow. His records are ...

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With summer upon us, there is no better time to shut all the sunlight out of your room, pull a blanket over your head and watch TV until your eyes hurt. We assemble the best shows on Lightbox that you ...

Superstar of breakfast radio, All Black captain and owner of a world-class duck face, John Key is one hell of a hard act to follow. But is the PM-designate really that boring? Toby Manhire crushes forever the Dull Bill English ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzPacific countries on tsunami alert following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake off Solomon Islands. Image: USGS A tsunami warning has been issued for several Pacific countries – including Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu ...

He wants to be a tax-raising and lowering, eat-the-rich Trump-but-not-like-that of the political centre. Duncan Greive heads to Parnell for the Gareth Morgan party’s very odd first policy launch. “Make New Zealand fair again,” says Gareth Morgan, more than once ...

New verse by Dunedin writer Emma Neale.Tag From the tangle of trees by the Warrender Street steps near where city council crews have been deleting the fuck-cunts and dick pics sprayed on the path, sharper than the ...

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John Key was first elected Prime Minister in 2008. What was New Zealand like when the era of radio banter, ponytail pulling, and bad singing was just beginning? Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here. ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzFear and Desperation: Refugees and Migrants Pour into Greece. Prizewinning footage shot in October 2015 – March 2016, Greece. Video: Rory Peck Awards Will Vassilopoulos, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) stringer since 2011, has won the Rory Peck ...

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Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzOPINION:By Peter S. Kinjap in Port Moresby Many current Papua New Guinean parliamentarians are highly respected individuals in their own areas – successful in business, education or public service. With such backgrounds, they routinely attract great ...

Novelist Graeme Lay bids a belated farewell to Auckland’s least glamorous but most useful shopping centre. It was one of the ugliest buildings in Auckland’s central business district, in a part of town where there was tough competition for that ...

The latest installment of Final Fantasy has been released from its cage into the arms of millions of fans. Resident Fantas-ites(?) Eugenia Woo and Matthew Codd settled around the old Skype and discussed what worked, what didn’t and why the ...

In the face of everything from anecdote posing as evidence to bias peddlers to outright quackery, the best riposte is to champion good science. But how? Dr Jessica Berentson-Shaw offers seven tips. Science and evidence gets a pretty bad ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzA car is half buried under the remains of a collapsed house in Pidie Jaya regency, Aceh, on yesterday after an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit the northeastern part of the province. Image: ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzRappler’s Evening wRap on President Duterte and the death penalty.By Mara Cepeda in Manila A proposed measure seeking to reimpose the death penalty in the Philippines has decisively passed the House committee level. Voting 12-6-1, the ...

All week this week we recommend the very best, A-grade quality, guaranteed good books for Christmas. Today: The Shops, by Steve Braunias and Peter Black. Why do photographers talk so much? The best thing about working with Wellington photographer Peter ...

An in-depth Spinoff investigation reveals exactly who invented What Now gunge and unravels the mystery of the secret recipe. Calum Henderson reports. A traditional What Now gunging. (Photo: YouTube – ‘What Now’s Best Gunge!’) “I was gunged while wearing a ...

A byelection is likely in Mt Albert should David Shearer’s South Sudan challenge be confirmed, signalling the departure of the last ex-leader, and leaving the question hanging: did Labour err in knifing him? “Former leaders” are a mixed blessing for ...